Editor:
The Town of Banff, administration and council fell for the bait, hook line and sinker. The proponent of the railway lands redevelopment plan promised free paved parking, and they provided it. The Town should have remembered Bob Sandford’s acronym “Banff: be aware nothing for free”.
Tucked into the overall plan is the requirement for a gondola from the railway station to Mount Norquay in order for the plan to be economically viable. The Town cannot approve a gondola.
Parks Canada has informed the proponent repeatedly that the gondola conflicts with Parks Canada’s mandate and that the gondola will not be approved.
So why is the Town on the verge of possibly approving the redevelopment plan and making it a bylaw when it can only lead to future confrontations?
I asked one of our councillors why the Town was headed on a collision course and was told that they were not to talk about the redevelopment plan with the public until after third reading. By then, it is a bylaw and too late to modify. Sounds like a gag order.
Now is the time to send the proposed redevelopment plan back to the proponent with a request to remove the requirement for a gondola to Mount Norquay. Come back with a sensible redevelopment plan and charge for parking like everywhere else in the world. Developers are in the business of making money, not giving away freebies.
Rick Kunelius,
Banff
